Today we’d like to introduce you to Teresa Agapiou-Young and Ami Rodriguez.
Teresa and Ami, before we jump into specific questions about the company, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The Teachers’ Teacher was established in 2015 by two best friends who strive to always be positive and productive together. Although our company began in 2015, our journey together did not begin there! We were fortunate to grow up together as students and best friends and we were blessed to have had many classes together. We have had the opportunity to share one another’s real-life milestones and experiences. Yes, you could have probably guessed that we even got in trouble together!!! From the time we were in Fourth Grade, we began collaborating with one another for many school assignments and projects. Since both of our families valued education and work ethic, they installed it into both of us. It’s always such an amazing thought to look back and remember that we started working together as children. One thing we knew for sure is that when we collaborated and brought our skills together to the forefront, we were able to excel and have fun while helping others.
Even as children, we always knew that we wanted to pursue the world of education. Child development and pedagogy always intrigued us; we even both worked as Daycare Teachers and Supervisors through high school and college. Even though we work a lot, we believe in taking small breaks to continue making memories. We definitely have our good times together, enjoying life, but we also enjoy our “Teacher Talk” moments to come up with effective plans together.
After high school, we went our separate ways for college, but always visited and kept in touch. Ami attended Houston Baptist University and graduated with a double major in Mathematics and Education and later went on to attain my Masters at Sam Houston State. Ami is extremely effective with her systemic approach to clearly unpack Mathematical concepts and embed instructional technology into her instruction. She is structured and will lead to a guide in all that she does. Teresa went on to attend Stephen F. Austin University, and completed her degree in Education at The University of Houston, Downtown! She, too, worked in Education, wearing many different hats. Teresa uses her creative, artistic abilities to come up with unique instructional approaches that involve highly effective and engaging strategies to increase retention and application levels. We value being organized and consistent in all that we do. Basically, a great balance of the left and right brain!!! After teaching for many years, God blessed us with many opportunities in the world of education. We have been exposed to dynamic instruction implemented by some of the finest educators around.
We will never forget the moment we were both presented with the opportunity to consult together. We were able to dive into the research and development of updates made in Texas’ Curriculum. We were both excited about the opportunity to learn and grow together. After consulting at the Region 6 Service Center, God leads us to take a leap of faith and we opened The Teachers’ Teacher, LLC. As first-generation Americans, we hoped to help students from all parts of the world live the American Dream. We want all students to receive an excellent education regardless of their Race and Socio-Economic Status. Our goal is to serve the Educators we are blessed to have the opportunity to work with in hopes of creating a culture where ALL students have opportunities to strive and grow. We have also been inspired by all of our family members, who are our greatest supporters. In addition, Ami’s late brother, Raj, who was an inspirational teacher that we had the opportunity to learn from, has encouraged us to inspire others through his memory.
Over the last five years, we have served hundreds of Administrators and Teachers and thousands of students, and aspire to impact many more. In addition, we are still SISTERS from other MISTERS!!!!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our children give us our endurance, our students give us our encouragement, and our passion derives from best preparing our future. Ami’s father once said that anything worth having is always going to require lots of work and effort. God has blessed us every step of the way, but just like any business, we have faced many challenges. When you are serving teachers and students, your work is measured by scores. These scores are not always indicative of student understandings and achievement. There are times when you hope and pray that students perform at a certain level, and some times those goals are not met. It is challenging serving teachers when teacher turnover rates are at an all-time high. As you make progress within a year, it can be a struggle to start over the following year with a new group of teachers because the previous group you worked with have moved on to other professions or other school districts who pay more money. It is our hope that although we continue to face these challenges, we continue to put the students and their needs first.
In terms of our best friend-business partner relationship, we have seen our hard work flourish, and that alone makes it all worth it. We have sacrificed a lot of time away from our families, but thanks to our husbands and family members, we are blessed to have each other to lean on and to learn from.
Tell us about your company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
The Teachers’ Teacher is an educational consulting company. We serve Administrators, Teachers, and Students in several ways. We provide professional development for instructional leaders and teachers and we also work with students as they prepare for the many assessments they are required to take each year. We specialize in Math, Reading, and Instructional Leadership, but we are most known for our Customized Training. We do not believe in a cookie-cutter model, but rather that every district and campus has their individual needs met and addressed. We are most proud that we have continued to grow and serve more school districts and students each year. We want to serve students all over the state of Texas in hopes of helping these students, our future citizens, get the education they deserve. What sets us apart from others is that we truly customize our training and the support and services we offer based on each individual district/school.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Together we bring an innovative plan of action that ensures to make a difference to all learning styles. We are organized and clear when we unpack concepts and strategies. Above all, The Teachers’ Teacher will always provide you with purposeful, ready to implement professional development that will not waste anyone’s time.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://theteachersteacherllc.net/
- Phone: 713-447-8677
- Email: theteachersteacherllc@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_teachers_teacher_llc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTeachersTeacherLLC/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TTTSuccess
- Other: https://theteachersteacherllc.teachable.com/
Image Credit:
Ami Rodriguez, Teresa Agapiou-Young, Student and Teacher Particiapants
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